dawei

It should be a fun ride (despite some rides scare us)... observed from a distance because it will be distance like all history flows... you can't step in the same water twice... someone said that a long time ago... they are related... like a flowing stream... but to try and claim one part of the stream is the result or foul is like saying the clouds are bad because they cause rain... What does the 10,000 things arising mean ? Folks need to cycle their stuff... Just look further than you can throw, would be one idea I realized some time ago. Trump is a kind of reset... there are many such occurrence in our storied history of existence... ice ages are much more extreme... Trump is just a wake-up call to existence... he is one of the 10,000 arising...

I like unconventional thinking and this chapter needs that point of view... at least two here have said 'valley' is not the point in various discussions... but the problem I have with Chinese proverb, 虚怀若谷 ... in 300 BC, this was a chinese proverb at the time? This chapter 6 is mentioned in total in the Liezi, who says this is originally from a Huang Di text. Now we are at 600 BC. And Chapter 5 has been shown that the Straw Dogs is in the Yellow Emperor's time but re-fashioned later as a ritual... And the original character was 浴, bath or bathe... In the Mawangdui text... Most of your other comments are ok by me.

Speaking just from my point of view as a reader... I don't think JB would care if the ADL was run by Eskimos... he'd still call for a snowball fight with them... IMO, JB is characteristically similar to Trump in talking points... its a shock value approach in a sense. But as staff, we do evaluate the message against the rules and we listen to both sides of the issue if possible. I personally don't see the thread (or sub-forum) as hurting the forum as much as it simply shows our human nature; our feelings get hurt and/or we feel disrespected, etc. IMO, it is as was stated: To be challenged by others is an opportunity for cultivation. I tell most staff/mod rotations that being a mod is an opportunity for cultivation... one's sensibilities are challenged and thus our own prejudices can creep to the surface that have laid dormant or suppressed in some ways. Chatting in a very open environment of varied voices brings this out too. There is so much talk about how Trump is divisive... it takes folks taking a side... burning a campus, refusing speakers they don't agree with, holding a chopped off head of a president, doing a murderous play on the president... Trump caused that... really ? This stuff is inside folks and has laid dormant and now rears its ugly head to reveal a part of their nature they think is justified in its anger and violent demonstrations... This is people finally and truly acting in spontaneity... but based in anger... in a way they claim is to resist, yet they would appear crazy in what they are doing. Trump caused that ? Likely the greatest problem humans have is owning up to their own role, their own reaction, their own psychosis (should it go that far)... To be challenged by others is an opportunity for cultivation. I'm unfazed by Trump, the reactions, the thread, the division... it is simply the 10,000 arising their own way... Weeds grow among roses. When the world knows beauty as beauty, ugliness arises (Tr. D. Lin). I never took this board as a place to limit ones interest... but rather folks could pick and choose what to participate in, or start as a topic. To be challenged by others is an opportunity for cultivation. Now, given all that, the point of the thread is valid and useful... but is it going to result in anything useful? Likely it helps to blow off the steam.. isn't that what this sub-forum area is about? To be challenged by others is an opportunity for cultivation. That's just my take, and quoting something I believe is of value for a spiritually minded and energy practice forum

link fixed.

Laozi mentions it more than once. Also see: Ancient Chinese Version Of Quipu -Tradition Of Tying Knots Dates Back To Antiquity CHinese Knot TyingIn Ancient China, Tying Knots as an art form

And when that is mentioned it is almost impossible not to bring in its bed-fellow, Wu Wei... the chapter is yet another reminder that doing less is doing more.

As can be seen in other translations, like Chen : It may be named the great.Because it never considers itself great,Therefore it can accomplish (ch'eng) its greatness. In the chinese, there is a repeat of the character for 'great' in the last three lines. The insightful turn that SFH makes is that while the passage starts and is mainly about Dao it introduces the ten thousand and it would be easy to just end with just the repetition... instead, SFH ties Dao to then thousand/manifestation and then shows what it really means to be 'great' (It is elusive, but it can be found.) Not saying that was his intent but that is what I see. The Greatness of Dao is in being too vast [to describe] yet found in everything. Seems a summation of many chapters.

Some chapters have a kind of litmus test of a line or 3... here is mine for this chapter: The simple words of a profound idea shown by Ta-Kao and Flowing Hands... What I have always liked about Ta-Kao (ok, I'm plugging his translation) is that for a guy who wrote this in 1904, he has no distractions from academic craze of translations in modern day nor all the unearthed texts that came later...

I've shared this before but only Dao knows where... There is a very simple and cute, cartoon like translation that reads like a comic strip... it is still quite profound with the simple utterance of the characters. The Dao Speaks I The Dao Speaks II Only draw back is that it doesn't follow the regular DDJ chapter order but I think in your case, that doesn't matter at all.

Just a shout out to Apech... on his last brief tour of duty, he made a few recommendations and one of them was to revive the interviews. Thank you

1. Forcing a split thread as the first, introduction when it is not the oldest post Yes, splitting threads out and enforcing an order is not possible. THe only workarounds may be: a. You copy the intro you want as a [*quote*] to the first one and at the very top put in a staff comment this is a split thread, then have the intro post you want and then the naturally oldest post will continue below it. b. Create the split by completely quoting... messy. 2. Barbara Wen I setup some canned questions for interviews to be followed by adhoc ones... I already found that is not as easy as it seems. There used to be two interview sub-forums that were merged, but here is what we should do: a. Start a thread in Interviews as, "Questions for Barbara Wen"... let folks post to it. Add these to the questions that staff would like and the interviewer would like. If you want a staff person to do the write-up, that is fine, or as a review. b. Then someone sends her the interview questions. 3. Livia Kohn I completed with her, via a phone call interview, a Part I that I call, 'Her Education and Life'... Part II will be, 'Her Works'.

FYI: I'm trying to press this request again... and upgrade to newest version.

I have added Thelerner as a moderator, which puts me in a precarious situation of re-employing a mod who was previously suspended as a moderator under me !!! So you see... sins are forgiven Thelerner is old school... please... I mean he's like an "Original"... forget the vampire analogy. He is a part of the original cast that setup TDB. I have always found his comments, advice, and rebukes of value. His vision of where TDB has come from and where it may continue to go is a welcomed mat to rest on. I asked him to return as a kind of part-time advisor... to share some past wisdom and future direction of TDB I think a reminder of the old with a vision to the new is a good balance. Just to do a roll call, here are the current moderators, in alphabetic order (Woody Allen always does his credits that way too): Cheya Kar3n Thelerner Zhongyongdaoist

I had something similar... whereby my ex and I agreed to behind the scenes payments after the court order... then years later she came after me to pay all the court order amount... Sometimes you find out more about your ex when apart then together. I think you have few options that include: 1. Get a good lawyer and pay them or just pay your ex 2. It will end at some point, child support... see it out. Given her income, it doesn't seem to really make sense, so why #1. good luck.

What if the imagining is through the central channel ? I'm thinking of the Taiji Pole? So it seems somewhat dependent on the practice or intention. For example, in my bygone days of Qigong and Medical Qigong, the 'imagining' was always down through the Taiji Pole (Central Channel), but if a meditative practice was done, then the MCO was imagined as more a circular flow around the body. So it may depend on one's imagining or practice.

I think this is why LZ, as told in stories, walked away, as told, to the west...

I think there will be lots of eating out...

Spoken like a true gentleman and scholar... and with the handle of ZYD, very Confucian. I think you need to post more along that lines, even at a Daoist site ! As a behind-the-scenes comment, I have tried to evolve the staff responsibilities, roles and flexibility over the years: In a word, 'change' or 'unfold' more and more. It may be that what I see (or want) is harder to fit to on some level but I explore it nonetheless. Some will recall the Steward staff position which seems good and well but it has not real function that was engaged. I eventually created a Steward+ (Marblehead and Brian) who had elevated permissions and in-between Stewards and Mods. We continue to explore the basic idea: If someone comes to staff, at any level, what do we want them to DO... We thought to try a 'moderator intership' which sounds maybe condescending but conveys an idea that you can observe what goes on before you jump in. The real challenge is finding folks who will volunteer and fit with the staff system direction. Please PM a staff member you are comfortable with to discuss this further to understand the need.

I believe tummo is a very advanced practice that Tibetan practitioners have shown they can dry a wet towel laid on their back. The only westerner to accomplish the practice is 'The Ice Man'... This does not seem to have any relation to kundalini, which I know nothing about but had a temporary experience of. Carry on.

As Dao is reversal/cyclic... so is TBDums... Apech, on his third tour, will go back to what he loves: posting boring buddhist posts. Karen will come back for a second tour of punishment. We would like to hear from volunteers whether they can be considered for staff. All in all, we benefit from folks participating as staff. Send me a PM for consideration. Thanks all... and keep posting away

FYI: I've done a Part I interview... her life and work experience. the Part II will be, her works.

Dao >> One >> Two >> Three 1 >> 1 >> 2 >> 3

Maybe you know the song, Two is Better than One... a part of the lyric is: Well maybe two is better than oneThere's so much time, to figure out the rest of my lifeAnd you've already got me coming undoneAnd I'm thinking two, is better than one Laozi might simply explain numbers as: One... Light coming undone Two... now comes the clue Three... now see me Four... now opens the door Five... breath alive Six... observe the mix Seven... including heaven Eight... and all create NIne... something refine Ten... Light once again Names refer to forms and objects. If forced to give it a name... then I call it XYZ. Now we can talk about XYZ. Its styled name is ABC. We're talking alphabet soup. Laozi may not of eaten that but he surely knew its taste.

I think LZ is quite clever in showing the unity of opposites... he can speak of One and Two at the same time. SO whereas we often try to show ho opposites make up the whole, or how the whole is just one, when have you seen One = Two ? One and two could be left and right, up and down. And it is not always opposites, just here one aspect and another aspect are not really different aspects.

Ok, added him to the list above...